The torment continued for days. Elder Wei completely forgot about the other prisoners in the large cell. All his attention was on Song Yi. He tested poison after poison, noting every detail.
After ten days, the changes were clear. Song Yi no longer coughed so much. The swollen veins returned to normal faster. He could stand after the tests. He ate all the simple food they threw into the cell. The body, once thin and malnourished, began to gain defined muscles. The skin was no longer pale and sickly.
Elder Wei stopped using other prisoners. All attention was focused on Song Yi. He saw the perfect effect of each poison, without the boy dying. That was rare. Valuable. The old man, who once had a cold expression, now smiled slightly every time Song Yi entered the room.
On the fifteenth day, the elder tested a mixture of five poisons at the same time. Liquids of strong colors were combined in a large cup. The smell was unbearable.
Song Yi drank. The pain was brutal. He rolled on the ground, screaming until his voice became hoarse. He felt every organ being attacked at the same time.
'I will endure... I swear... I will not die here. I will not give that pleasure to that monster.'
The only thing that kept his mind sane was the new objective. To kill that damn old man.
When the crisis passed, he sat down. He breathed heavily, but he was conscious. Elder Wei watched with bright eyes.
"You are stronger again. Your body seems to be using the poison as food. Impressive..."
The days continued. Twenty days passed. Song Yi had taken dozens of different poisons. Slow, fast, ones that attacked the blood, the meridians, the head.
But he survived. And with each night that passed, he became stronger. His arms were firmer. His legs supported his weight better. His gaze was no longer only despair but also cold determination.
Elder Wei barely slept. He spent hours observing, noting, and testing larger doses. He saw clearly. The poison did not weaken the boy. It fed him. It made him more resistant. In the old man's mind, Song Yi was a rare treasure.
On the twenty-fifth day, Song Yi took a poison so strong that it would kill an ordinary cultivator in seconds. He felt his chest tighten, his vision darken. But, after half an hour, he was standing again. His body was sweaty but firm.
"Heh. You really are not the same boy who arrived here anymore." Said Elder Wei, touching his pulse.
"You are stronger. Much stronger. These experiments, in fact, are a good thing for you. Don't you see?"
Song Yi did not respond. He only looked at the old man with pure hatred.
'One day I will kill you. Slowly. Making you feel every pain that I felt.'
Elder Wei noticed the hatred but did not care. To him, Song Yi was still just a mortal.
On the thirtieth day, Elder Wei prepared the most powerful mixture so far. He combined all the poisons he had created that month into a new type. He was eager to test the result.
Song Yi drank everything.
The pain exploded like never before. He fell to the ground. His body was writhing violently. Screams echoed through the room. Every muscle, every vein, and every organ burned. His vision went black for long minutes.
But he did not die.
When the pain subsided, Song Yi remained lying down, breathing deeply. His entire body throbbed, but he felt a greater strength forming, running through his veins. His muscles were defined. His skin had a healthy color. He no longer looked malnourished. He looked like a strong young man.
Elder Wei watched with a mix of surprise and satisfaction.
"An entire month. You took every kind of poison that I created. I thank you for helping me form a new type of poison for the sect."
He called the disciples.
"Take him—"
His voice faltered when he noticed something changing in Song Yi.
Suddenly, around Song Yi, a purple mist began to emerge from his pores, spreading through the room at high speed. Song Yi felt his body release a large amount of energy, as if everything he had accumulated over the last days was being expelled.
Elder Wei watched with an even bigger smile, as if he understood exactly what was happening.
The purple mist continued to come out. When it stopped, Song Yi felt his body pure, cleaner than ever. And more than that, a terrible strength that he had never felt before.
The purple mist continued to come out of Song Yi's pores. It spread through the room like a dense and slow cloud. The two disciples who had entered to take him suddenly stopped. They breathed in the mist unintentionally. At the same instant, both grabbed their throats. Their faces twisted in pain. Everything burned inside. They coughed violently, fell to their knees, and then collapsed onto the stone floor, motionless.
Elder Wei saw everything. He did not care. He breathed in the purple mist deeply. Instead of suffering, he opened a wide smile, the biggest that Song Yi had ever seen on the old man's wrinkled face.
"HAHAHA! It really is a special physique. I was not wrong!" Exclaimed Elder Wei, his hoarse voice full of satisfaction.
He knew exactly what was happening. During the last month, he had suspected that Song Yi possessed a special physique linked to the path of poison. The abnormal resistance, the way his body absorbed the poisons without dying, everything pointed to that. Seeing the suspicion confirmed was something incredible for him.
Song Yi did not understand anything. He only felt a strange familiarity with that purple mist, as if it were a natural extension of his body. Besides that, a surreal strength ran through all his muscles, bones, and veins. A strength he had never felt before. His body felt light and powerful at the same time.
Elder Wei, who was on the other side of the room, suddenly disappeared. In the next instant, he appeared right in front of Song Yi, like a ghost. Song Yi was startled and instinctively raised his hand toward the old man. All the purple mist that floated in the room concentrated and shot toward Elder Wei.
The old man only smiled, amused by the attempt. The poison hit his body but caused no damage. It was too weak to affect someone like him.